Month: October 2016

There are exactly twice as many Facebook users who like Charitocracy (244) as there are donors on the site (122). While I risk sounding like an NPR pledge drive, here goes nothing: “What’s it going to take to get you to donate?”

We’re so close to passing the $500 mark. We hit that mark in September with the help of some one-time “sweeten the pot” donations from enthusiastic donors. This time, thanks to our enlarged donor base, we’re poised to do it naturally. We’re just a few signups shy of $500 in monthly donations! (That means we’d be starting at $500 in November.)

So why the reluctance, you other 50%-ers? Help me understand! Maybe I can convince you? Here are some fun facts to consider:

You can sign up from your phone, tablet, mainframe, whatever you prefer.

Your donations are tax-deductible. We’re a 501(c)(3) and we’ll email you a receipt within seconds.

Each individual in a family can have a separate account, with a separate voice and separate vote. (Partners/SOs, do not throw away your shot!)

$13 per year is pretty reasonable considering you’ll automatically support a dozen different causes throughout the year, whether you actively participate (vote, nominate, etc.) or not. I spent this much on a sandwich and coffee just trying to come up with ways to persuade you.

Tomorrow I return to my day job. I’m looking forward to tackling problems and improving technology that benefits millions of people. I’m looking forward to the camaraderie of my colleagues. And I’m looking forward to getting paid again!

But… I’m already mourning the loss of my Charitocracy productivity (Charitivity™) which can’t possibly sustain its present level after today. I’ll prioritize the most important new features to keep Charitocracy thriving, and make the most of my moonlighting hours. Charitocracy in its present form practically runs itself, so it’ll be fine, right? I just can’t wait to build it into so much more…

I simply need to remind myself that Charitocracy isn’t a race. The pace of development will depend on the demands of my day job and the pursuit of a healthy work/life balance. If you donors keep on voting, nominating, and sharing Charitocracy with your friends and family, I’ll keep making it better. Deal?

Last time I talked about smile.amazon.com as a way to boost the size of the monthly pot at Charitocracy. But I’m reminded of an even better way: employer matching programs. We received our first such match last week!

If you happen to work for a big company, or an extraordinarily awesome small company, there’s a good chance they match their employees’ charitable donations 1:1. If for example you signed up for $65/year, your employer might accept a copy of your Charitocracy receipt email and send along another $65 straight from them to us.

We’re more than happy to jump through any administrative hoops with your company if we’re not already in their system; usually it only requires us to complete a quick registration form. Check with your HR department. And if you contact us to let us know you applied for a match and who your employer is, we can update your account’s donation tally so you get credit for your employer’s match when it comes in! Win, win.

Thanks to a heads up from the amazing Kim Andrews, I’m now aware of Charitocracy’s presence on smile.amazon.com. I’ll let Amazon explain:

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization.

So if you shop at Amazon, you can reach it through the smile front door, choose Charitocracy as your charitable cause to support, and then buy what you would normally buy. Or better yet, buy one of EVERYTHING!

Congratulations to The NEA Foundation, and to donor sherylwthorp for nominating it! Check out this short film about them, and feel good about your part in our collective $500 grant!

Nominations for October close on Friday night. Go ahead and familiarize yourself with the 21 nominated causes (15 from last month, 6 so far this month) and if one doesn’t catch your imagination, consider nominating one yourself!

Finally, feel free to mention Charitocracy to your friends! Rumor has it there’s a pitch video coming soon… all part of our cutting edge social media strategy here at Charitocracy. (Step #1 was “get rid of that rubbish /dashboard/ back door,” and we totally nailed that one!)

About Us

Benj Lipchak and Jessica Sands launched a nonprofit in 2016. Follow our journey as we organized a nonprofit corporation, obtained tax exempt status, built a web site, registered to solicit donations, grew our donor base, and now continue to test the very fabric of our marriage under the stress of a start-up environment. Bring it on!